Ruby
by sjsmatee101
Summary: Red. That's all she was. A red blur in her life. Her mother's life. Did she not care for her; did she not care for her own flesh and blood? She had to find her, she had to know why. Why were you never there? Part 1 of the 'Ruby Stained Stars' Series
1. Chapter 1

/AN/: Hey everyone. Hope you enjoy the story. Reviews will be grateful.

Ruby

Synopsis: Red. That's all she was. A red blur in her life. Her mother's life. Did she not care for her; did she not care for her own flesh and blood? She had to find her, she had to know why. Why were you never there?

Chapter 1: Red

The wind sent a shiver through her cloak, causing the impossibly red garment to dance around her shoulders. As waves cascaded through the fabric, the hood stayed impossibly still, covering her eyes with the darkest of shadows. Fiery red curls hung loosely from the shadow, framing a perfectly shaped chin and a set of impossibly luscious, cherry – red lips, a stark contrast to the ghost – like pale white skin. As the impossibly red cloak danced outwards, a Victorian style, dusty red dress was revealed. She outstretched her arms to wrap the cloak around her torso, showing impossibly long, blood – red nails in the process. A steady beat was heard as her small feet, neatly wrapped in red worn stilettos steadily hit the road.

The girl raised her hypnotic red eyes to the road in front of her. She saw the coloured boy in front nervously look over his shoulder, looking straight at her, not trying in any way to hide his doubts about this 'red weirdo'. He didn't really like her, she knew that, but she really didn't care. She hadn't said anything to them except: her name; the fact that she didn't belong here; and that she'd forgotten something really important.

The girl glanced back at the group in front of her, trying to remember their names. Of course she knew Sarah-Jane; she was the woman who was giving her a place to stay! Until she remembers where she should be of course. Her attention then turned to the boy walking next to Sarah-Jane. Luke. An intelligent, cute young man on a trip home to see his mother, Sarah-Jane, from Oxford University. She liked him, but not like that. More like… a brother. There was this instant connection between them. It felt really strange, like she'd known him for years. She felt the same sort of thing with Sarah-Jane, but slightly different and much stronger, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

On the other side of Sarah-Jane were two teenagers, probably the same age as Luke. One girl and one boy, the boy who didn't really like her. She could tell that the girl wasn't sure about her as well. What were their names? Callum and Rachel? No. Connor and Rhiannon? No, that wasn't it. Clyde and Rani! That was it! They were currently walking down a street called Bannerman Road, towards her 'new home', as Luke and Sarah-Jane had put it. That only made Clyde and Rani roll their eyes. She thought about living in a 'home', she couldn't remember her last one (if she did actually have a home). She quite liked the idea, but what if she didn't like it? The girl's mind, no doubt as red as her eyes, started imagining what life would be like from now on. How different would it be from living on the streets, which she has been doing for the past day, she didn't know anything else.

"Ruby!" The red-eyed girl was torn from her thoughts by her name being called by Sarah-Jane. She looked up to see the group of four staring at her.

"We're here." Sarah-Jane nodded her head towards the left. Ruby's eyes followed to fall on an amazingly big, beautiful house, with a small green and white car parked on the drive. The house was completely different to the other houses on the road. It felt grand yet homely, huge yet cosy. Ruby decided she liked it.

"Well? Are we just gonna stand here?" Clyde huffed as he stomped through the front door, with Rani quick in tow. Ruby's red eyes glowed slightly as they intently followed Clyde and Rani's retreating backs.

"What is their problem?" Luke's raised voice made Ruby switch her gaze from the now closed front door to Luke in his temper.

"Luke, just leave it we'll talk to them later." Sarah-Jane tried, in vain, to calm Luke down.

"No! I won't leave it! What has Ruby done to them to make them hate her so much?" Luke's outburst startled Sarah-Jane.

"Well…" Sarah-Jane walked closer to Luke so to not let Ruby here. "She hasn't spoken a word since she told us her name, and that was at least six hours ago. I would feel the same way, but I feel like I should know her…" Glancing over her shoulder Sarah-Jane could see Ruby staring at them with blank eyes, through the black shadow of her hood.

"Like there's this connection between you two, but you can't figure out why?" Luke was so relieved it wasn't just him.

"You feel it too? I thought it was just me..." The two of them stood watching Ruby take in her surroundings. They stayed like that for a few minutes, no-one feeling the need to say anything. Suddenly, Sarah-Jane saw something move in the corner of her eye, she realised it was a curtain in the Chandra's front window. Not wanting to explain who Ruby was to Gita and be stuck outside 'chatting' for hours on end, she decided it was best to get inside now.

"Uh… Ruby. Shall we go inside?" Ruby just stood there looking at Sarah-Jane with no expression in her face whatsoever. Sarah-Jane started to walk to the door as Luke came up with an idea. Maybe Ruby didn't talk English. She did say that she didn't belong here, well… wrote it down. Just because she can write English, didn't mean she could speak it. He watched as Ruby followed his mum inside the house, and then entered his home behind them.

Ruby followed Sarah-Jane like a dog through the house, drinking in the sights with blank, empty eyes. As the two of them entered the living room, everyone's eyes settled on Ruby. A grand piano, sat in the corner of the room, caught Ruby's eye as soon as she set foot through the door. She gracefully walked to the piano and sat at it, she pulled back the hood to her cloak, revealing gorgeous red curls flowing loosely around her shoulders, like a free flowing, sparkling blue, breath-taking waterfall you find deep in the amazon. A few minutes passed whilst everyone stared at Ruby, waiting for something to happen. But Ruby just sat there. Staring.

Clyde met eyes with Luke and nudged his head towards the door, signalling that he wanted to talk outside in the hall. The girls noticed the boys had left and followed them out to the hall, except Ruby who was still sitting at the piano. Once they were in the hall Clyde turned to Sarah-Jane and asked, in a hushed voice,

"How can you let her stay here? She's so weird. I mean, she hasn't said a word since we met her, and have you seen the look in her eyes. It's so blank and empty it's scary! How do you know she's not some creepy, dangerous alien who wants to kill you?" Clyde just couldn't understand it. They knew nothing about this girl and Sarah-Jane is letting her stay at her house. They just found this girl, whilst trying to stop the Slitheen's latest plot to kill the planet for money. She said nothing, yet when confronted with big green aliens, they were the ones to flinch and cower and hide. Just one look at her and the Slitheen gave up and ran away, literally.

"I don't! How did I know Luke wasn't going to kill me? She has nowhere to go. I can't just leave her to live on the streets!"

"Yeah, but Luke was different you knew him by then. We don't know anything about her." Rani had to back Clyde up, he was right after all. This girl is too suspicious. There is something wrong with her. Before Luke could explode at his 'friends', the doorbell went. Sarah-Jane decided it couldn't come at a better time. Whoever it was, she was not going to turn them away. She opened the door, just to be shocked out of speech. The Doctor, of all people, was stood on her doorstep, smiling his million watt smile, dressed in his brown pinstripe suit and white sneakers. There wasn't an invasion going on, the world wasn't about to end. So, why was he here? It was all just a bit random.

"Hello, Sarah-Jane." He didn't know why the Tardis had brought him here, but for whatever reason; he knew he wanted to see her.

"U-uh. Doctor. Why are you here?" She wasn't able to say anything else, it was physically impossible.

"Oh, I'm doing fine. Nice to see you too." A little hurt but he was able to brush it off in sarcasm.

"Oh God. I'm sorry. I'm just a little shocked. You never just come to see me. There must be a reason." The shock had gone, but the confusion was still there.

"Well," He dragged the word out longer than necessary, "I didn't. The Tardis did. I don't know why, but I saw where I was and decided to come see you. Is that alright?" He didn't want to put her in an awkward situation.

"Yeah, No that's fine. Um…"

"What's wrong? You look flustered." It was quite amusing seeing this, normally, well organised, calm woman all flustered, not knowing what to do with herself.

"What? Oh, um…" Sarah-Jane stepped outside and gently shut the door behind her. "Well, me and the kids have sort of disagreed on something, well, pretty big actually.

"What? You and the kids have fallen out? Over what?" He was so confused. Sarah-Jane's kids adored her. Why would they fall out with her? Unless she snapped at them, which was highly unlikely. He knew Sarah-Jane, she would never do that.

"Well… we found this young girl a few hours ago, and well, I invited her to stay with me because she's living on the streets and I can't just leave her be, but Clyde and Rani don't like her because she hasn't said anything to us at all, and she claims to have lost her memory, they think this is all too suspicious." Sarah-Jane was speaking so fast that even the Doctor had trouble getting everything.

"Okay. Sarah. Breathe." This was so unlike Sarah-Jane, the Doctor was really starting to worry now.

"Look, could you just have a look at her, show them that she's just a scared little girl who needs a place to stay until she remembers who she is." Now that was a brainwave! If she could get the Doctor to confirm to them that Ruby is normal, and not plotting to kill them, then they will back down and maybe be able to accept her.

"Okay, I can do that. Where is she?" He knew he would do anything for his Sarah, even before she asked.

"Well, that's another thing. She's sat at the grand piano. Has been for an hour now. The thing is she's just staring at it; she hasn't touched it once, just staring.

"Really? Just sat there staring?" Well that isn't normal. Maybe she hit her head and not just lost her memory, but also gained some brain damage, or maybe she was affected by aliens. Either way, he should really have a look at her.

"Yeah just sat staring. So, you'll look at her? She's in the living r-"Just at that moment, music started to fill the air. It was the heavenly sound of a piano being played. The tune gracefully flowed through the air, lightly touching the ears of all that listened. A voice, as heavenly as the piano music, was added to the tune. The combination of the two relaxed every muscle in their body.

"I guess she's not just sat there now." The Doctor stating the obvious as he listened to the angelic music. He only knew one person who could create a sound like that, but it couldn't be her.

"It's beautiful. Um… she's in the living room." Sarah-Jane shook herself from the relaxed state she was in, and focused on the topic at hand. They both walked inside the house, the D following Sarah-Jane. They passed the three teenagers stuck in a sort of tranquil trance. As they entered the living room the D asked if she remembered her name.

"Ruby. She's called Ruby, no last name." Just as she said that the Doctor stepped into the room, towards the music. All of a sudden the Doctor stopped dead in the middle of the room, mouth open, staring at Ruby as she danced her fingers with ease over the piano keys whilst, with no effort at all, she let the angelic singing cascade out of her mouth like a waterfall. The Doctor startled Sarah-Jane by abruptly turning round sprinting with desperation out of the room, passed the teenagers (breaking them from their spell) and out onto the drive. Sarah-Jane rushed out after him, fearing what he was about to say. As she caught up with him on her drive she saw him bent over panting, but he doesn't get out of breath from running. For the first time in his life the Doctor was scared. Never mind Daleks and Cybermen when it comes to her, he was just as scared as any human.


	2. Chapter 2  Slipping Away

Ruby

/AN/: Hi all! I forgot to thank JustSoBored for the inspiration of this story from their fic "Hurts His Hearts". Pleeeease review! I need to know what you think pleeease!

Chapter 2: Slipping Away

Sarah-Jane had never seen the Doctor so scared, what could possibly scare him so much that he would actually run away. She was worried, it was safe to say. She was very worried, near to panic. That is how much seeing the Doctor scared affected her, because if he's that scared then it must be bad.

"Please. Please, whatever you do, do not let her go upstairs. Do not let her know about the aliens. Please, I'm begging you! Please Sarah-Jane! I can't come back. I'm sorry. I-I can't." With that the Doctor sprinted down the road and into the Tardis. Ruby's music was still playing through the air. But, as the Tardis started up, the music hit the wrong note. A harsh high-pitched squeal of a note cut through the air. All of a sudden, Ruby launched herself from the piano seat and threw herself through the front door. Ruby landed in Sarah-Jane's arms, tears streaming down her face. She was hysterical.

"No! You can't! He can't!" Sarah-Jane was trying to calm her down. The girl had said nothing all day and now she was in her arms screaming and crying hysterically, she didn't know what else to do. Suddenly, Ruby scrambled from her arms and sprinted towards the Tardis, but stopped halfway.

"You can't leave me!" Ruby screeched at the top of her voice, desperation and despair clear in her voice and eyes. Those once blank red eyes were now filled with desperation and anger. Her eyes started glowing bright red with emotion. Whoever, or whatever, she was, she was obviously just a poor little girl, lost and scared. Ruby started to sprint up the road, just as the Tardis started to rematerialize. The Doctor came running out towards Ruby. She suddenly screamed, clutching her head, and fell to the floor. The Doctor caught her just in time, before she hit the concrete of the road, but this meant his knees buckled and he sat, cradling Ruby to his chest, wanting with all his hearts to take the pain away. It felt like a hole in the chest to know that he couldn't do anything, because he knew. He knew what was happening, and it hurt him so, so much. It was his fault after all.

"Don't…Just…" Ruby tried but it hurt too much, she couldn't tell him, she wanted to, but she just couldn't. The Doctor looked down at her, and his hearts broke a million times over again. He had done this, and he wasn't going to let her go through it without him, not this time.

"Please D-"

"Shhhh. You don't need to say anything, I'm here. I'll keep you safe. You're going to be ok, do you hear me, you're gonna be fine." By now, tears were streaming down the Doctor's face, staining Ruby's gorgeous red cloak. Sarah-Jane had run full pelt as Ruby collapsed into the Doctor's arms. Finally, she had reached the two bodies sat on the concrete floor. She saw the pain and agony Ruby was going through and felt something tear her heart apart. She didn't understand why she felt so much for the silent girl she just met today. But it was safe to say that she had more than a soft spot for the girl, for whatever reason she didn't know why.

"Ruby!" Sarah-Jane grabbed Ruby's hand as she felt Ruby clutch it through the pain, but it felt like Ruby was clutching Sarah-Jane's hand for another reason. See, that feeling from earlier was making its presence known again, but so much stronger. This time you could not push it aside, unless said person is writhing in agony in your arms.

The Doctor let Sarah-Jane hold Ruby as he got the very thing that was killing his little girl out of his pocket. He shoved it into Ruby's free hand, that was reaching out into thin air since he let go of it trying to find him, and helped her hold it. It was a pocket watch, with beautiful concentric circle designs on the front.

"Ruby, please, listen to me. You need to open the watch. Please. Open the watch. You need to do it, before you pass out. I can't lose you, please." The Doctor rested his forehead against Ruby's, tears streaming down his face, begging Ruby to open the watch. The sense of desperation and urgency was all Sarah-Jane could hear in his voice. She knew this was serious. Ruby was going to die if she didn't open the watch.

"Ruby c'mon." Sarah-Jane's voice was much calmer, although she was completely panicking inside. She knew she had to get through to Ruby through the pain. "You have to do this. Just open the watch, it's already in your hand, you just have to push the button." Sarah-Jane took the watch from the Doctor's and Ruby's combined hands and placed in Ruby's other hand, the one that was clutching Sarah-Jane's but she had managed to gently extract, although Ruby still noticed. She placed it in Ruby's hand and placed hers around Ruby's.

"It has to be done with her holding it while she's conscious." The Doctor managed to squeeze out the sentence, knowing it was too late, she was too weak to do anything, she was in too much pain. Sarah-Jane gently put pressure on Ruby's index finger, which she had placed on top of the needed button, making Ruby's finger push the button down. The watch flung open and a ruby-red light cascaded out enveloping Ruby, just as Ruby passed out. Softly, Ruby's chest slowly lifted from the floor, leaving her head to gently roll back and her legs to stay still. This went on for a couple of minutes. Sarah-Jane watched this process take place intently, glancing up at the Doctor's face to see it full of hope and suspended despair. The light suddenly entered Ruby's chest, like a vacuum suddenly sucked it all up, causing Ruby's chest to rise higher for a second then gently drop back into the Doctor's and Sarah-Jane's lap.

As soon as Ruby's lifeless body touched their laps, the Doctor was a flurry of movement, picking Ruby up into his arms, his next words just couldn't get out of his mouth fast enough.

"Sarah, help me get her into the Tardis" Sarah-Jane jumped up and flung both Tardis doors open. By now, the three teenagers had run out of the house. They saw Sarah-Jane run down the road as Ruby collapsed into the Doctor's arms, all of them thinking the same thing, when did he get here?. They saw the watch open and the light, but what they didn't see was once the Doctor got Ruby to lie on the sickbay bed he turned around, grabbing Sarah-Jane's shoulders and kissing her with so much passion a star would've exploded.


	3. Chapter 3  Revelations

Ruby

Chapter 3: Revelations

Sarah-Jane's arms moved to gently hold the Doctor's, which were tangled in her hair, as she kissed him back. The kiss seemed to last forever, but in reality it was only for a few minutes. Just as suddenly as he started to kiss her, the Doctor turned and carried on working on helping Ruby. Sarah-Jane just stood there. He kissed her. The Doctor had kissed her. She stared at him with confusion, as he moved around in a frantic worry over Ruby, connecting wires here and there, doing medical stuff. He didn't seem fazed at all. Maybe he didn't mean it. Maybe he was just so relieved about Ruby that he just done it. It didn't mean anything at all, except thank you.

The Doctor started doing tests on Ruby, making sure all her systems were okay. After hundreds of tests the Doctor sat next to the bed, with Sarah-Jane sitting the other side. He found it incredibly hard to sit still. There was one more test he had to do, but he was scared of Sarah-Jane finding out. Sarah-Jane was getting really annoyed, so she decided to hit the nail on the head.

"Ok. What's wrong, apart from the obvious?" Looking straight at the Doctor, he was too worried for someone he was apparently scared of. The Doctor gave Sarah-Jane a sidelong glance, could he tell her? But what would she say?

"Um… there's one more test to do but… um… it may reveal something…" Now, Sarah-Jane was confused.

"Reveal what? If it could help her then wouldn't it be a good idea to do it?" What could possibly be that important that he would not do the test? He had already shown he didn't want her to die.

"Because I don't know what you'll say." The Doctor kept staring down at the floor, not wanting to see the look on Sarah-Jane's face. Sarah-Jane's opinion really meant a lot to him. That kiss earlier is all he wanted to do since the Tardis landed here, but he was pretty sure she thought nothing of it, she seemed to brush it off quickly.

"Does my opinion really matter that much? Doctor, I'm confused. One minute you're terrified of her and run away! The next you're distraught because you think she's going to die, and now you don't want to do an important test because of what I'll say! Doctor, do the test!" She just couldn't understand his mood swings.

The Doctor just sat there shocked by Sarah-Jane's outburst. Did she care that much for Ruby? What if- no. No do _not_ go down that route, it won't end pretty. You'll just end up pushing both of them further away.

"O-Ok. I'll do the test." The Doctor feebly got out the chair and pulled out a heart monitor. He connected Ruby onto it. His finger hovered over the power switch, debating with himself whether this was a good idea. He looked at Sarah-Jane as she sat watching Ruby sleep, her hand wrapped tightly around Ruby's limp one. He decided there and then, seeing how much Sarah-Jane cared for Ruby, he would tell her how he felt about her. He should have done it years ago, really, before she walked out those doors, bloody TimeLords. As he flicked the switch, the monitor came to life. Lights from the monitor shined down illuminating Ruby where she lay unconscious, oblivious. Suddenly, the heart monitor picked up and started sounding Ruby's heartbeat.

*beep-beep* *beep-beep* *beep-beep* *beep-beep*

_Hang on that doesn't sound right. _Sarah-Jane thought to herself. _It sounds like she's got-_

"No. But… you said… you said you were the last one." He told her. He had told her at Deffry Vale that they were all gone. No one was left. The TimeLords were dead.

"Sarah, why do you think I care for her so much? Why do you think I'm scared of her so much?" He was now standing over Ruby looking down at her face with all the love and caring only a fool would be able to miss it. "She's… She's my daughter. Ruby Bella Smith." Sarah-Jane wasn't expecting that. The Doctor had a daughter? "It's been 20 years since I last seen you. 15 years ago I found her outside the Tardis. I did some tests on her, to find out who she was. She was only 5 days old. I found the two hearts, so I did a DNA test. It told me she was mine. At first I didn't know what to do. I tried to look for the mother but I couldn't find out who she was. It was like that part of her DNA was locked; only her mother could unlock it. I'd been a father before so I decided to keep her, raise her, love her. She's my daughter, in every sense of the word. A TimeLord, with two hearts. My daughter. Lying here nearly dead." The anger inside of him just built. The more he looked at her the more he hated himself for what he had done. "It's my entire fault." His voice was hardly a whisper now; Sarah-Jane was barely able to hear what he said. But she did. She retrieved one of her hands from Ruby's and slipped it into the Doctor's. She gave it a gentle squeeze, so he would look down at her. He did, reluctantly, only to see understanding and want. Want? For what, him? No she wouldn't want him. Want to help maybe? He slowly lowered himself down to the chair next to Sarah-Jane, never breaking his eye contact with her. He rested his forehead against Sarah-Jane's and closed his eyes. Sarah-Jane closed her eyes, as well, at the contact. The Doctor took a deep breath, as to try and stop the tears, but the attempt was in vain. As the tears rolled down his cheeks, he let his biggest fear out.

"I done this to her." Sarah-Jane felt her own tears escape her eyes. To see the Doctor, her true love, in this much pain and hurt, it ripped her heart in two. She knew what it was like to have your child so close to death. It hurt beyond belief. She reached up to his face and wiped his tears away, leaving her hand to rest against his cheek.

"She's going to be fine, you said so yourself." She also knew how easy it was to blame yourself, for your child's pain. She had to help him through this. She couldn't let him tear himself apart with unnecessary guilt.

"No, no. It's gonna hurt her so much. She'll be in agony. I did this. I made her forget. I made her forget about me, about this life. But… I also had to change her. I had to rewrite her DNA. It's absolute agony. But I had to. They were hunting her to get to me. I had to hide her. And now because she remembered… her mind was going to burn up if she didn't open the watch and change back. But it's going to hurt more." The Doctor looked up straight into Sarah-Jane's eyes, as he said, "She's going to be in so much pain, and it's all my fault." Sarah-Jane couldn't begin to imagine what the Doctor went through, having to do that to his own daughter. She would never be able to do that to Luke. She didn't blame him for what he'd done. She knew how important it was to protect your children. Her heart broke just thinking about how much pain that would have caused her love.

"Well, she's safe now. You did what you had to do. I mean, the aliens have gone haven't they?" The Doctor nodded his head; he loved how she always could keep a level head. She could always make perfect sense of everything. "She's got you again, and me. We'll help her through this. I'm not leaving until she's back to perfect. Ok? She's going to be fine." But, just as the Doctor was nodding his head in agreement, Ruby screamed out in pain, even though she was still unconscious. Her body began to lift her chest as what looked like a red electric current circled Ruby. The Doctor and Sarah-Jane were by her side in a shot.

"Shhhh. It's ok. I'm here. Shhhh. Daddy's here." The Doctor stood there cradling Ruby in his arms, swaying slightly like a parent would to get a small child to sleep. Sarah-Jane had never seen the Doctor so domestic; she loved the scene in front of her. Her heart just melted to see the Doctor like that. Sarah-Jane began stroking Ruby's hair, soothing her as much as she could from the Doctor's side. The Doctor took his arm away from Ruby and put around Sarah-Jane's shoulders, so she could get to Ruby. Sarah-Jane took the place under the Doctor's arm, holding Ruby in her arms as well.

Even though Ruby had stopped screaming, Sarah-Jane and the Doctor still stood their close to each other soothing the little girl in their arms. Sarah-Jane was getting tired so she absently put her head to rest on the Doctor's shoulder, making the Doctor notice how tired she was getting. The Doctor shifted his weight so he could move Ruby and Sarah-Jane to a more comfortable position. Sarah-Jane wasn't quite asleep so he kept her standing so he could climb up onto the bed, still holding Ruby, but making sure there was plenty of room for Sarah-Jane. Once he was comfortable, he patted the space next to him signalling for Sarah-Jane to sit there. Sarah-Jane sleepily shook her head in protest, but the Doctor wouldn't have it, he gently grabbed Sarah-Jane's wrist and pulled her to the bed. She was too tired to argue so she climbed up next to him and snuggled into his side. She was so tired she didn't realise that she had draped her arm across the Doctor's and Ruby's bodies, and that she was holding Ruby's hand. The Doctor lay there, enjoying his little cuddle with his girls. Wait… his girls? His daughter and his one true love were both in his arms sound asleep. He liked it. No, he didn't like it, he loved it. All he ever wanted was snuggling into his arms right now.

His mind began to wonder and fantasise as he softly fell into a peaceful sleep. Him, Sarah-Jane, Luke and Ruby. Living at 13 Bannerman Road. Being domestic. Luke at Uni, Ruby at Park Vale High School. His Sarah-Jane with a golden band on her finger, one matching his. Him and his Sarah lounging about in the attic. Sarah calling him her Michael, he always did like that name. Ruby slouching in from school, with Clyde and Rani close behind dressed in their sixth form uniform. Luke walking in with a bag of washing for Sarah, visiting from Oxford for the weekend. Mr Smith detecting an alien crashed spaceship. All… six of them jumping into the two cars, Luke's yellow beetle and his Bessie. The three young adults going together and Ruby going with her parents. All of them reaching the aliens. They help the aliens get back to where they are supposed to be, everything's okay again. They go home and get a celebratory takeaway, pizza. People go home and to bed. It's just him and Sarah now. They decide to celebrate without the kids. Sarah takes hold of his hand and leads him up the stairs to their bedroom...

Just as the Doctor fell asleep, Luke walked into the sickbay looking for his mum. They'd been in there for hours; Rani and Clyde were waiting in the control room, so he had to be quick. Surprisingly, when they saw Ruby collapse in the road earlier, Clyde and Rani were a lot more accepting of Ruby. Maybe it was because if she meant that much to the Doctor then she can't be out to destroy the Earth or harm Sarah-Jane. He had to find out if Ruby was okay and see how long his mum was going to be. He wasn't expecting what he saw. He walked in to see his mum asleep cuddling up to the Doctor and holding Ruby in her arms. To be honest, he didn't mind he was just shocked. Although, he did feel a little pang of jealousy that they looked like the perfect family and he was standing on the outside watching. Suddenly, there was an image appeared in his mind, like someone was projecting it out. It was an image of the Doctor putting his hand on Luke's shoulder and an arm round his mum's waist, talking to him saying _'Welcome home son.'_ Luke walked out of the room into the hallway. He turned and leaned his back heavily against the wall. It was all a bit overwhelming. Did the Doctor think of him as a son? He would love to have the Doctor as his dad. He normally imagined what it would be like. Luke looked down the hall towards the control room. He should probably get back. He knew now that even though they were a picture of a perfect family in there, and he was out here, he was still part of that family. He always will be.


	4. Chapter 4 Admitions

Ruby

Chapter 4: Admitions

Sarah-Jane stirred from her sleep, feeling someone's arm wrapped round her shoulders and her head resting on theirs. She felt like something was missing, but she was too tired to notice that Ruby was no longer in her arms. In fact, Ruby was nowhere in the room. Just as Sarah-Jane was groggily sitting up, she felt something push to get into her mind. As let it in hoping it would get rid of the feeling of loss. However, it turned out to be an image, hazy like a memory, but definitely not a memory. What she saw shocked Sarah-Jane beyond belief.

There in her bed was her and the Doctor doing… things. Suddenly, as the Doctor in the image went lower, she felt an incredible sensation in the same area. This caused her to gasp audibly, her hips to buck and her head to fly back, holding herself up with her arms. It was like everything the Doctor in her mind was doing, she could physically feel. She started to squirm, she could feel everything. She squeezed the Doctor's hand that was resting limply on her thigh. She didn't realise it was his hand, she just needed something to squeeze to stop her from letting the moans escape her throat. The Doctor woke instantly as he felt Sarah-Jane crush his hand. As soon as the Doctor woke up, the image, and the feelings with it, suddenly disappeared, leaving Sarah-Jane to flounce back onto the bed with her eyes shut seemingly out of breath. The Doctor looked down at her with worried eyes, thinking it was a bad dream.

"Sarah? You ok?" She just lay there trying to get her breathing under control. After a few seconds Sarah-Jane replied.

"I'm fine." She felt so embarrassed. Could she really want that so much that if she imagined it she could actually feel it? She felt the Doctor gently push her hair out of her face, which made her body shiver as it was still trying to get over what just happened. Sarah-Jane went to stand up off the bed, but the Doctor softly pushed her shoulders back down, her eyes were still closed.

"I don't think you should do that just yet, you look shaken." He didn't know why but he knew that whatever had just happened her body was still quite weak.

"Oh, I think I should." She just felt so embarrassed. She was a grown woman and yet she was still having dreams like that. But the Doctor was more worried at the fact that Sarah still hadn't opened her eyes.

"Sarah, open your eyes." As Sarah slowly opened her eyes, the Doctor saw tears in the corners. He went to wipe them away, but Sarah caught his hand before he could touch her face.

"Don't" Her voice was barely a whisper. Although she had stopped his hand, Sarah-Jane still gripped it, suspending the joint hands in the air in between their chests. Their eyes locked for, what felt like ages, as their breath hitched in their throats.

"What happened?" The Doctor's soft voice broke the silence. He needed to know now otherwise she'll never tell him and it'll eat him up.

"A dream. Of you. Us." She felt she could tell him. If he ran away then that would be it, but she felt it was now or never. They were still locked onto each other's eyes as Sarah noticed the Doctor was virtually lying on top of her, his left leg sitting snugly between hers, his knee very close to the place that was aching only a few moments ago. Well, with realising how close he was, the aching had come back.

"Where were we?" The Doctor knew what she was going to say next, but he wanted to make sure. He obviously wanted that dream so much that he had projected it out of his mind, which obviously reached Sarah-Jane's mind.

"My room. Bed." The Doctor sighed deeply, letting his head drop to her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." He couldn't believe he had let himself be so stupid, so careless. He had to let her know the truth, it had obviously shaken her. But Sarah – Jane just lay there, staring at the Doctor, confused. Why was he apologising?

"Why are you sorry? It was my dream. I imagined it." Sarah-Jane was just confused and embarrassed.

"But it wasn't." The Doctor brought his head up so he could look into Sarah's eyes. "What you saw… felt… that was me. It was my dream – but I wanted it so much that… well… that I accidently projected it out of my mind and you obviously picked it up." Not once whilst saying all of this did the Doctor look directly at Sarah's face, too ashamed and scared of what she would say.

Sarah-Jane just looked at him, as he stared at something apparently interesting on the wall behind her. Did he just say what she thought he said? He had fantasied about her? The Doctor wanted her? By now the Doctor had released his hand from Sarah's leaving it lying still next to Sarah-Jane. Sarah-Jane brought her hand up to the Doctor's face, moving it so he was looking at her.

"You want _me_?" Disbelief was all the Doctor could see, not disgust or anger or any of that, just disbelief. He stared into Sarah's gorgeous green eyes, which were locked onto his own. They stayed like that for ages, just staring into each other's eyes. The Doctor moved down to get his lips just inches away from hers, and whispered one simple word before capturing her lips with his own.

"Always." The kiss was so gentle, so full of emotion, it took Sarah's breath away. Suddenly, the kiss deepened, becoming more passionate and heated. But just as they both tangled their fingers in each other's hair, it was like a light switch had gone off in Sarah-Jane's mind.

"Ruby." Sarah-Jane muttered the girl's name into the kiss, not even knowing she was saying, her subconscious taking over.

"What?" The Doctor not really caring what she was saying, only concentrating on how good her lips felt on his. That's when conscious thought caught up with the rest of Sarah-Jane's mind.

"Ruby. She's gone." As soon as the words left Sarah-Jane's mouth the kiss had come to a complete halt. Both Sarah-Jane and the Doctor stared at each other for a few seconds before, simultaneously, leaping off the bed scanning the room for a sign of the young, red girl.

"What! Where is she?" The Doctor was so confused for probably the first time in his life. "She was unconscious!"

"How long were we asleep for?" Just as the words left Sarah-Jane's mouth, a gorgeous song filled the air. A piano again, just like before at Sarah's house. That means…

_Come on skinny love just last the year_

The two of them just stood there for a few seconds relishing the angel-like voice floating through the Tardis' rooms.

_Pour a little salt we were never here_

_My my my – my my my – my my my my – my my…_

_Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer_

Within the control room, the three teenagers also stopped in their tracks to listen to the melody. Both Sarah-Jane and the Doctor suddenly bolted down the Tardis hallways, running towards the sound.

_I tell my love to wreck it all_

_Cut out all ropes and let me fall_

_My my my – my my my – my my my my – my my…_

_Right in the moment this order' tall_

They arrived in the Tardis' music room just in time to witness Ruby sat at the piano, with eyes glowing with life and a slight smile on her face, as she began to sing words to match the melody her fingers were playing.

_I told you to be patient I told you to be fine_

_I told you to be balanced I told you to be kind_

_In the morning I'll be with you_

_But it will be a different kind_

_I'll be holding all the tickets_

_And you'll be owning all the fines_

The Doctor and Sarah-Jane slowly, and slightly hesitantly, walk towards Ruby at the piano. However, Ruby doesn't even notice the two adults enter the room.

_Come on skinny love what happened here_

_Suckle on the hope in lite brassiere_

_My my my – my my my – my my my – my my _

_Sullen load is full so slow on the split_

The three teenagers felt a calm, tranquil wave crash over, like the voice was soothing their stressed minds. Relaxation cascaded through their bodies as a heavy sense of reassurance enveloped them like a hug from a loved one.

_I told you to be patient I told you to be fine_

_I told you to be balanced I told you to be kind_

_Now all your love is wasted then who the hell was I_

_And at the end of all your lines_

Ruby's eyes suddenly grew cold and hard. Her blood red eyes were covered with a glassy sheet of tears. A few drops spilled and rolled down her cheeks, splashing onto the ivory piano keys.

_Who will love you? Who will fight?_

_And who will fall, far behind?_

The Doctor stiffen next to Sarah-Jane as Ruby sang the two lines,

_Come on skinny love_

_My my my – my my my – my my my – my my_

_My my my – my my my – my my my – my my _

As the song ended, The Doctor slowly came to stand next to Ruby at the piano. A few last glistening tears fell down Ruby's cheeks as she looked up to meet her father's eyes. They stared at each other, neither knowing what to do. Suddenly, the Doctor lunged forward and wrapped Ruby in a protective hug, clutching to her as if she would disappear any minute. As soon as the doctor had her in his arms, Ruby broke down in tears clutching just the same her father did.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. So, so sorry!"


	5. Chapter 5 Cliffhangers

Ruby

Chapter 5: Cliff-hangers

Ruby pulled out of the embrace, looking around the room as if as if searching for something. The tear stained, red eyes met Sarah-Jane's. Ruby ran from one side of the room, ripping herself from the Doctor's arms, to Sarah-Jane and the others. She stopped just in front of them and paused with a look of uncertainty masking her features. After a few seconds pause, Ruby launched herself at Sarah-Jane, wrapping her arms around her neck. Ruby clutched Sarah-Jane in a desperate hug, like a terrified small child would to a parent. Sarah-Jane felt compelled to wrap the crying girl in a comforting embrace, like she did earlier.

"You saved my life. Thank you." She had never heard so much sincerity from anyone before. Sarah-Jane was just so overwhelmed.

"It's okay. You're okay now" Sarah-Jane reached up a hand to comfortly stroke Ruby's hair.

As Ruby pulled out of the embrace, she reached down for Sarah-Jane's hand to thank her again, but as she did a white spark of energy sparked from their hands, causing the women to jump back in pain. Both women stood there, staring at each other, as red electricity crackled up Ruby's arm and white electricity crackling up Sarah-Jane's arm. For the few silent seconds that followed, time stood still for the occupants of the room.

As suddenly as the silence fell, it is shattered by a agonising scream emanating from the Red Girl.

"Ruby!" The Doctor vaulted himself over the piano to reach his screaming daughter, "Ruby, what is it? What hurts?" Ruby screamed in agony, as she was doubled over with a vulcun grip on her father's hand. "Ruby, listen to me! What does it feel like?"

"My… ah!... My blood… it's on fire!" As Ruby gasped this out, Sarah-Jane snapped out of her daze and came to crouch next to the Doctor. Hesitantly, she laid her hand on the young girl's knee; hoping give her some little comfort.

"Ruby, I need you to concentrate, close your eyes and try and focus on what's happening." Panic reinserted itself in the Doctor's voice, as he tried to help Ruby.

Suddenly, Ruby's eyes snapped wide open with worry and panic.

"My DNA's unlocking!" Before the words had finished leaving her mouth, Ruby sprinted from her spot on the floor towards the door. She managed to get through the door before nearly crumpling in pain as another bloodcurdling scream was ripped from her throat. The others didn't have a chance to help as Ruby ran over again, still obvious pain.

Although still in obvious pain, Ruby was much faster than the rest. She arrived at the Sick Bay door before any of the others. Before another wave of agony racked her body, Ruby ran over to the medic cupboard, she had to do it before the pain rendered her unconscious. Ruby stabbed the needle into the vein in her elbow and filled it with her blood. It slightly glowed a little white within the needle. She stumbled over to the medical equipment and deposited the blood sample before screaming and giving into the darkness.

The Doctor appeared a few seconds later to find his daughter sprawled across the floor, unconscious.


	6. Chapter 6 Answers

Ruby

Chapter 6: Answers

"Ruby! Sweetheart, you're okay, I'm here! Daddy's here!" The Doctor scooped his little girl into his arms and gently laid her down on the medical bed nearby. "Ruby!" The Doctor heard a beep from the machine behind him. He was torn between his unconscious daughter and the constant, conveniently-timed beeping. "Hold on, sweetheart." The Doctor turned to the beeping to see what it was saying. The Doctor's eyes widened as he realised what the machine was. It was the machine that dealt with DNA.

The three teenagers reached the room next, all baffled by the situation.

"Jesus! She can run fast! Even in pain!" Clyde huffed between much needed gulps of air, matching the two other teenagers out of breath next to him. Just as Clyde finished saying that, Sarah-Jane entered the room after slowing down a bit.

"Well, she probably gets that from her father." Sarah-Jane said with a slight smile, which vanished into thin air as she saw Ruby unconscious and The Doctor looking scared and lost.

"Doctor, what's wrong. Is she alright?"

"No. Yes, she's fine. The pain knocked her out, but she'll be okay." The Doctor was torn, he couldn't think probably. This is why he did not notice Ruby glowing a slight white. At that moment, Ruby suddenly sat up, awake, gasping for air. Everyone jumped back in surprise, not only because of her sudden movement.

"It's gone. The pain's gone." Ruby looked to her dad, then to the others, who were being very quiet. Confusing. Until she caught her reflection in the mirror across the room. "Oh my God!" Ruby ran over to the mirror, pulling at the now dark brown locks. "I'm brunette!" Ruby cried. The Doctor and the others just stood there, staring at Ruby with dumb expressions. "Brunette! I mean, I look human! My eyes! Look at my eyes, they're green!" Ruby managed to calm down a bit, she turned to The Doctor, "What happened?"

"Your…DNA. It unlocked. It probably magnified the unlocked DNA a bit." He was just as confused as everyone else. He had never seen anything like this. As Ruby turned back to the mirror, to examine her new looks more closely, the machine from earlier came back to life.

"Oh. I put in my blood in. Before I passed out, I managed to put a sample of my blood in for testing. To match the new DNA." Ruby looked up at her father with an innocent expression, "Is it done?" The mechanical beep answered for him, as The Doctor turned to look at the machine.

"Yeah. It's done. It's found a match." At this, The Doctor turned back to his daughter, with a careful look on his face. "It's found your mum."

Tears filled Ruby's, now green, eyes. This was a big step, which Ruby didn't think she was ready for.

"My mum. That screen shows my mother's name? Fifteen years I've waited for this, fifteen years without a mum…I can't do it." A couple of tears escaped Ruby's eyes, as she looked back to her dad with pleading eyes.

"I'll do it." The Doctor couldn't just let his daughter go through that on her own, even if he was struggling himself. However, his daughter could read him like a book.

"No. I know you feel just the same as me." Ruby took a deep breath, trying to ready herself to look at the screen.

"Well, how about if I could get the machine to say it out loud? We could do it that way." He was grasping at straws now, it was still going to be unpleasant for them, any way they do it. Hesitantly, Ruby agreed as she watched her dad walk over to the machine to press some buttons.

"That should do it. Time to find out who your mother is." The Doctor was putting on a brave face, however he was just as nervous. He has waited for this day for years. He'd imagined who she would be, how she would act, a thousand times over. Now reality was about to hit, and he was more than nervous. A robotic voice filled the air, giving them the answers.

_Name: Ruby Belle Smith_

_Gender: Female_

_Age: 15 Earth years_

_Species: TimeLord_

_Father: Theta Sigma_

_Mother: Sarah Jane Smith_


	7. Chapter 7 Storms

**Ruby**

**Chapter 7: Storms **

Silence filled the room like thick, black smoke, suffocating all the occupants: as complete shock hit everyone like a wall of cold water. No-one had expected that. The two TimeLords stood frozen to the spot, whilst the kids all stood quietly looking at each other.

"B-But… that can't be right. Sarah-Jane said she'd never been pregnant." Clyde stammered as he threw a puzzled look at Luke.

"Rule Number One," Sarah-Jane suddenly interrupted, with a strained and forcefully level voice, "I lie." The words caught in Sarah-Jane's throat as she turned and ran out of the room. After a couple of seconds, The Doctor raced after her worry and confusion clouding his face. The teens just stood there dumbstruck by what the last few minutes had thrown at them.

"Sarah! Stop please! Sarah-Jane!" The Doctor was running as fast as he could down the maze of corridors of the Tardis, however Sarah-Jane was running like her life depended on it and he couldn't catch up. Finally, he reached the control room where Sarah had stopped for breath. But what he found didn't make him feel any better. For as soon as he stepped foot in the control room, Sarah-Jane turned round and screamed,

"SHE'S IMPOSSIBLE! IT'S A TRICK, SHE'S NOT REAL! SHE CAN'T BE!..." Sarah-Jane was screaming so loud, her indescribable pain was almost tangible.

"SARAH! STOP-"

"SHE DIED! IN MY ARMS! SHE'S DEAD!" Sarah's hysterical screams stopped The Doctor in his tracks. She knew? Who was she talking about? The Doctor was so confused it scared him, it didn't happen often. Especially when the love of his life was (barely) stood in front of him, her body raked with sobs of overwhelming emotional agony. He knew she was reliving everything she had tried to push away. However, he just couldn't think of anything to say except a weak:

"What?" Sarah-Jane had calmed down slightly, no longer hysterical, with tears and mascara streaming down her checks.

"I held her, I held our daughter as she died." The air stole The Doctor's breath as he witnessed his love force the words out with utter despair. He looked Sarah in the eyes, wondering how the hell she was still standing. The thought of which he took back as he watched Sarah-Jane collapse in tears. He only had a few seconds to catch her before she hit the floor. They sat there cradling each other on the control room's floor, clinging to each other with a shared heartbreak.

All the teens turned with alarm towards the door as they heard Sarah-Jane's agonised screams. However, everyone had to crush the urge to run after the two adults; they needed to be alone for a bit. Then they all turned to Ruby with identical questioning looks. Ruby just stood there with tears in her eyes. She took a deep breath and looked at the others, now to answer the unavoidable questions.

"You ok?" Ruby's head shot up to look at Luke, as did the others. That was not the question she was expecting.

"What?" Luke could see how close she was to crying her eyes out, and he didn't know if could cope to watch that.

"I said, are you alright?" He didn't want to see her cry. This must be really difficult for her too, not just the rest of them. She just found out who her mum is, to just have said person run out the room and scream.

"Yeah," The word chokes her throat, as she takes a deep breath, "I'm fine, thank you." And she meant it. The fact that even though his mother was obviously hurting because of her, he still asked _her _if she was ok. At this Clyde's expression softened, as he realised just how hard it would be for Ruby.

"I think we need some answers, Ruby." Every aspect of Clyde, his tone, his expression, showed complete sympathy and understanding of her position. He just wanted to know what was going on, because as far as he was concerned, there was a lot of information between the lines, which he didn't know.

Ruby took a deep breath, and shook the tears from her eyes, as she went to lean against the bed that just recently accommodated her lifeless body. How to start the limited explanation she has. _Well, guess it's time to put these genetics into practice and just go with it._

"Um. Well… it's a long and complicated story. But… I guess we have time." _Time machine and all… _

But Ruby decided to leave the snide comments out for now. "Ugh… a couple of years ago we ran into a religious group called The Silence. They believed in something… about the future- they wouldn't tell us what but… but they explained to us- well we figured out- the whole story of… well… me." She looked up to peer at the faces in front of her to see if they were following her so far, or if she had managed to confuse and lose them. However, as she looked, she found that they were all still with her, which impressed her to no end. God knows she can babble with the best of them.

"Well… turns out they were a big part of it. Apparently, when my mother- Sarah-Jane – first found out she was pregnant they took her. They replaced her with this… thing called The Flesh. Basically, a fake replica of a person with the said person's consciousness connected to it, living it. Dad didn't notice so when they parted ways. They turned it off, destroyed it. Let the person's consciousness awaken in her real body, which was with them, in their base, about to give birth."

The Doctor managed to move Sarah from the Tardis floor to the jump seat a couple of metres away. The tears were still there, for both of them, but the storm of emotion was gone. Sarah-Jane was taking deep breaths to calm herself down, as The Doctor was gently rubbing circles on her back. He hated to see Sarah so distraught and upset. He sat down on the seat next her, hating himself for doing this but he knew it would help her.

"Tell me… about… what happened?" He already knew what had happened, him and Ruby found out a couple of years ago, but he still didn't want to know what she went through. It'll hurt to know, to know he caused that. He waited as Sarah-Jane tried to compose herself, but failing as the tears were still lingering just waiting to fall again.

"I-um-I was pregnant… when you left me in Aberdeen." Sarah-Jane sighed. She had suppressed these thoughts for years, now she had to bring them all up again. "I'd known for ages… just… I didn't know how… there wasn't a right moment. I-I didn't know what to do… as soon as I got around the corner I…" A few tears escaped her eyes as they blazed a trail down her checks. "I had a contraction… I didn't realise… it'd been months since I found out… like something was pushing it to the back of my mind. By that time… it'd been nine months. But… my head started to feel… dizzy." As she closed her eyes, a few more tears ran down her face as she sobbed once more. "The next thing I know… I-I'm in this dingy room, with people staring at me like-like I'm some experiment. That was when the next contraction hit… everyone just left… I was on my own." More sobs wracked her body as the memories came flooding back, causing her heart to break all over again. "Fourteen… Fourteen hours I was in labour… she didn't cry… after all that… I didn't hear her cry… I thought… then a woman came in… she had an eye patch on… she didn't even look at me… ju-just took her, took my little girl. I screamed- they couldn't take her, I wouldn't let them! …But no-one – no-one came… somehow I fell asleep… I didn't know where she was… I just…" The tears and sobs took over Sarah-Jane as she saw them take her baby away again. She could still see it all.

The Doctor couldn't believe it. He knew it was bad, but he didn't know it was that bad. He didn't know she felt like that. _Oh god_ he thought _This is worse than I thought! I should've been there!_ The Doctor wrapped his arms around Sarah's shaking body, holding her tightly, not intending of ever letting her go again.

"It's okay, it's okay. You're safe now, _she's _safe now. You're both with me. And I will _never_ let you go again." Sarah-Jane gently pulled out of The Doctor's arms. Their eyes locked, faces inches away from each other.

There was a collective gasp as the teenagers heard what had happened to Sarah-Jane. Ruby had explained the whole story to the three shell-shocked in a whirlwind of a few tears, shocked gasps and an occasional sob from either Rani or Ruby. Once Ruby finished, everyone just stood there for a while, trying to absorb all this new information on their friend and mum. This just left Ruby feeling uncomfortable, thinking things over. Luke was the first one to break the stunned stupor, as he hesitantly walked over to Ruby, he stood there next to her. As a few tears escaped her eyes, Luke gently wrapped his arms around Ruby.

"Well…" Clyde sighed with a heavy and resolute tone in his voice, "everyone has their secrets." All four teens glanced at each other with suspicious looks gracing their faces. All of a sudden, they burst out laughing, with tears of mirth rolling down their faces, shattering the awkward tension that had hung in the room like a thick, heavy curtain.

"Oh God! I don't know about you…" Luke started, feeling the mood change significantly, "but after the day we've had, I could use something to eat!" This lead to more relaxed laughs and easy smiles. At this Clyde seemed to snap back to his usual jokey self.

"I think we'll need more then _something_, Lukey-boy! So, Rubes, you know the Tardis, how much food can it cook up?" Just then, the Tardis shook with a force big enough to throw all the teens to the floor.

"What was that?" Rani voiced the boys' thoughts as they helped her up off the floor, after which they turned to see Ruby half glaring, half laughing, at Clyde.

"She." At the others' confused looks, Ruby decided to elaborate, "The Tardis is sentient, she's alive, she's a She, and she doesn't much like being called It." To end the statement, Ruby fondly patted the wall near the doorway of her home, trying to calm the ship's irritation telepathically. "Follow me if you want food." As Ruby floated out of the room, she called back to the others with an obviously fake mysterious voice, which, of course, made Luke, Rani and Clyde follow. Although, they would follow anyone if they were offering food at the time, if the noise from their stomachs were anything to go by.


	8. Chapter 8 Aftershocks

**Ruby**

**Chapter 8: Aftershocks**

******/AN/: Sorry it has taken so long but I have been swamped with revision for my GCSEs. But they will be over soon so I hope to update more often. Reviews are welcome!**

Remnants of chocolates, sandwiches and crisps lay strewn across the table in the Tardis Kitchen, as the four teens sat slumped in the seats around the mess. A large, noisy belch erupted from the very depths of Luke, closely followed by Clyde's belch in response. Once the belching conversation had finished, the boys suddenly started laughing at the girls' disgusted looks, however the girls had to give in to the ever growing giggles building up in them.

"So… Rubes, what's it like to live inside the Tardis?" Clyde broke the comfortable silence that had fallen with the questioning mind of his. Ruby leant forward in her chair and slipped her hands around the cup of tea in front of her as she mulled the question over in her head.

"Well… I mean… it's normal, to me. I've lived in here since I was a baby, she's all I've ever known." Ruby gazed around the room, giving the Tardis a fond nudge at their mental connection. "She's the nearest thing to a grandmother I've ever had. I love her." Ruby was a little surprised she had said so much. But the others were just confused.

"But… I mean, I know i-she's alive but… h-how does she 'communicate'?" Rani's curious side scrambled to the surface as soon as Ruby had started answering Clyde's question. Suddenly, as soon as the words had left Rani's mouth, an excited sparkle lit up in Ruby's eyes, as she leant even further over the table towards the others.

"Oooh, that's the exciting part. You know the Tardis is alive?" She waited for the others to nod before continuing, "Well, she's not just alive, she's telepathic. That tingle you feel in the back of your head-" Everyone started to nod their heads when suddenly, Clyde's senses came back to him

"Hold on! How can you assume that we all have that tingling in our heads?" Clyde's suspicions began to fly again as he became very defensive. However, Ruby looked slightly taken back at Clyde's sudden change of heart, but very quickly managed to hide it.

"Well, that tingling on the edge of your mind, that's the Tardis. She's _alive_ and she's trying to _communicate_!" Ruby's enthusiasm bubbled spilled over, as her eyes sparkled again with a childlike awe. But, Rani's questioning instinct kicked in again.

"So, the Tardis is alive and trying to talk to us?" She waited for Ruby's nod before continuing, "So, why is she just staying at the edges of our minds then?" It didn't make sense, if the Tardis is there why is it-she staying out? Ruby smiled as she saw a certain familiar spark in Rani's eyes

"Because she's polite." The answer was accompanied by a nonchalant shrug as if it was obvious. "She doesn't want to intrude. You didn't even _know_ she was there until a couple of minutes ago, she wouldn't go further until she had permission." At the others' confused looks, Ruby knew she had to expand a bit, "Well, your mind… it holds everything you know… everything about you. To open that up and just dive in would be… more than horrifying, more… it's the worst kind…of…of… invasion of privacy _ever!_- I mean… it's just-just awful!" Everyone fell Into a stunned silence. They hadn't really thought of it like that. A slightly awkward silence settled between the teens. As it was quite heavy and pregnant with unspoken awkwardness, so Clyde decided to change the subject. However, the first thing that came to his head was…

"I'm sorry for being such a dick to you earlier, Ruby. You know… with not trusting you and all." _Great make an awkward silence even worst! Great going, you knob!" _Although Clyde kept that thought to himself. However, Ruby managed to save the situation without even realising it.

"It's alright, Clive." Ruby picked up all the empty mugs, turned in her seat and walked to the sink, all the while with a sly and mischievous smile gracing her face. "Anyway, they say you are what you eat!" At this, everyone broke out in an uncontrollable laughter, even Clyde at to give in to the giggles at that one. He had to admit, she was quick _and _cleaver.

"Ah! Nice one! I think you're going to fit in well with us! That was so funny!" Luke just couldn't stop laughing, he didn't expect that from Ruby.

"Well, there's more where that came from! You don't mess with The Burn Machine! I'll burn you to a crisp! Mwahahaha!" More laughter filled the air as all the teens felt a youthful contentment fill them from their very core.

Sarah-Jane led there, staring at the ceiling, lost in her own thoughts. She'd lost track of the amount of time she had been laying there, just… staring. The weight of The Doctor's arm snugly across her stomach was comforting, but she still didn't feel at ease. She just found out her daughter was alive after 15 years for god sake! So, why didn't she feel over the moon? Her _daughter_ is _alive! ALIVE!_

"She's alive." Awesome realisation hit Sarah-Jane like a wall of cold water. She was so overwhelmed that a few tears burned tracks down her cheeks. Her whispers to the air managed to rouse The Doctor. He immediately saw the tears and, after planting a soft gentle kiss to Sarah's shoulder, moved to comfort her. His hand went to lightly cradle her cheek while resting his forehead against hers. Holding her as she lightly cried in relief, because he knew, _oh_ he knew, just the overwhelming, bursting raw emotion that could not be held back once it was felt.

After a while of Sarah-Jane letting her relief out and The Doctor comforting her, whispering tender nothings in her ear, she felt calmed enough to talk again.

"I thought she was dead. I… held her. Did I?" Doubt invaded her mind like the aliens she's spent her whole life fighting, yet she couldn't find the strength to fight this. The Doctor knew what was going through her head, but he also knew what happened.

"You did. Well… you held a living copy of her while that died. We were told what happened after we ran into some survivors a few years ago. He quickly added to provide an explanation to the questioning look from Sarah.

"Survivors? Survivors of what, a war? I lost a baby not a country!" Sudden rage boiled through Sarah Jane's blood at the thought of something like that. The Doctor could see Sarah was close to angry hysteria, it was an emotional rollercoaster.

"No, it wasn't like that." A deep sigh was ripped from The Doctor's throat as he prepared himself for what he was about to say, there was no way of knowing how she would react in her current state.

"You… losing Ruby… it was part of a plan… to get to me. To kill me, in the future. They found out you were pregnant and decided she would be best." He didn't like talking about his future, especially when it was something horrible like this. He saw the questioning confusion in Sarah's face, so got there before she could.

"She was part of a war against me. The plan was to take her. Raise her… Brainwash her. To hate me. And to eventually kill me in cold blood. They…" The explanation trailed off as he saw the fear in Sarah's eyes at this.

"How-How is she here then? How long was she with? Doctor, what did they do to her?"Sarah Jane launched herself into a sitting position as she went into full panic mode. _What have they done to my little girl?_Frantic thoughts flew around her mind only doubling the panic every second.

"It's ok, it's ok! She was only there for three days. Three days then she was home, here, with her dad. She's safe. Like I said it was a plan to kill me _in the future_. The future version of me handled it. He found her, knew who she was straight away. Brought home. Broke every single time rule in the book, but she's his-mine-our daughter. She's always worth it." He paused to let it all sink in for Sarah before he continued. "He didn't say anything to me. Just knocked on the Tardis door, handed me this cute little _perfect_ bundle into my arms. And-and just looked at me before he just walked off. But I didn't care because the little baby girl in my arms was burbling up at me, and right then, _right_ in that moment… I fell in love with our gorgeous baby daughter. And I have been ever since. Sarah, she's _safe_." For minutes they sat there, just listening to each other breathe. Reassuring themselves that everything was ok and everyone was safe.

Suddenly Sarah Jane burst out in hysterical laughter which The Doctor couldn't help but join in with. He just couldn't help it, her laugh was so soft and light, he had to admit he was falling in love with her all over again. Two hearts, two loves and she was steadily taking over both of them. Once they had calmed down enough to form coherent thought, their eyes caught each other's and locked for the longest time. With a deep, contented sigh, Sarah Jane said,

"Oh God. A crap, ordinary, boring day just became one of the best days of my entire life! I just got my daughter back and I'm in bed with the love of my life." At this she looked down at The Doctor with an intense love in her eyes and a bright smile on her face which nearly split it in two. The Doctor couldn't help but match Sarah's expression with his own loving eyes and a smile too big for his face. A smile of which grew impossibly bigger as Sarah leant down to share a gentle but passionate and intense kiss. A kiss that left both Sarah and The Doctor smiling megawatt smiles that lit up the room and left them giggling again and rolling around the bed with each other.

"Urgh, we should get up." The reluctance was more than obvious in Sarah's voice as she reluctantly pulled herself out of bed wrapped in a sheet to get dressed, but The Doctor wasn't having it. He quickly grabbed her around the waist and abruptly pulled her back down onto the bed, evoking a cute little squeal from Sarah.

"No not yet." This was nearly lost as The Doctor mumbled into Sarah's neck and he snuggled into her, causing Sarah to chuckle at his childlike whining.

"But, what about the kids? " In was an innocent question, said between chuckles, that warmed all of the three hearts sat in that bed as it provoked the image of their unusual family to leap to their minds.

"Oh, they'll be fine. They're teenagers." The Doctor went to climb on top of Sarah, mouths too close to resist a kiss. However, it soon became apparent that The Doctor had more than a friendly kiss on his mind. Sarah erupted into even more giggles as The Doctor's mouth moved lower, down from her jaw to her neck. Then gasped as his mouth followed the sheet as it fell from her body.

"Doctor, stop it!" Breathless, yet stern Sarah Jane managed to get The Doctor to stop his distraction as she protested again. "We've been in here for ages, we should go check up on them." At this The Doctor pulled himself up onto his elbow and looked down at Sarah splayed on the bed beneath him, as he took a deep breath.

"Sarah, they're not babies." Suddenly, Sarah's face had the company of a sly, mischievous grin as she thought of a reply,

"No, they're not. But wouldn't it be great? If they were, our babies." The Doctor's smile came to match Sarah's as the thought took hold.

"Well, it's never too late to start!" Sarah burst into a fit of laughter again as The Doctor pounced on her with passionate ferocity. Somehow, Sarah managed to free herself from The Doctor's grasp and leapt off the bed, still wrapped in the sheet, and turned to face The Doctor on the bed with a massive grin threatening to overtake her face. The Doctor took the grin as a 'Come and get me!'. So he leapt from the bed over to Sarah and gently pushed her back against the wall whilst holding the sheet wrapped around his waist and keeping his lips tightly sealed with Sarah's. Chuckles and giggles wiggled their out of the kiss. As well as that, Sarah's words, between kisses, managed to escape the kiss to reach The Doctor's ears.

"We… should… still… go… see them." She finally pulled back, pulling her lips from The Doctor's as she finished the sentence, and looked into his eyes, conveying more to him than her words could.

"Ohhhhh!" The Doctor whined like a toddler and pouted like a kid who dropped his ice cream, "You're no fun." Despite his words The Doctor released Sarah from between the wall and his body so she could retrieve her clothes from where they were abandoned on the floor. As she bent down to pick up her pants, The Doctor caught her gently at the hips gaining her attention.

"You wear that outfit every day. Why not try on something new from the boot cupboard?" He whispered in her ear so softly that she felt the fire of desire ignite again. However, she was determined to get dressed.

"Oh, but you can wear the exact same thing all the time and yet I can't?" Her lightly teasing tone stuck up a feeling of friendly ire in The Doctor as he contemplated saying a comeback, but decided against it as he looked down deep into Sarah's eyes and saw the emotional tired mum that just wanted to get to know her daughter. So, he decided to let her get dressed with as little fuss as possible. By the time his mind had reached this point, Sarah was already buttoning up her jeans.

"Fair point, smartarse. Although, I think I win because you do look amazing in those jeans." He sexily walked up to her and slid his arms around her, holding her close. Sarah made a low sexy chuckle as she shuffled closer to The Doctor's body. However, the moment was lost when Sarah suddenly slapped his arse and said,

"Right, c'mon. Get dressed. I want to see the kids before they get bored and go to bed." Sarah slipped her shirt on as she watched The Doctor put on his suit before they left the bedroom in search of the teens.


End file.
